Autumn is in the air in Vermont, and that means two things: the annual palette of beautiful colors that paint the Upper Valley landscape and the redolent aromas of apple and spice that permeate local kitchens during harvest season.
Vermont state agricultural officials and regional tourism and foodie communities alike are awaiting the onset of foliage season and a hoped-for bounteous harvest of one of Vermont’s signature crops — apples — in the weeks ahead.
Experts such as those at the University of Vermont Extension Service are predicting an iffy foliage season throughout the state, including Woodstock and surrounding communities for the fall of 2025. The primary cause of concern regarding the annual display of spectacular oranges, yellows, ambers, and red is the ongoing drought that has affected most parts of Vermont for the past two months. For apple growers, the agricultural dilemma is exacerbated by the unfortunate wet, rainy spell that hit the state in mid-May, just as most varieties of apple trees were beginning to bloom.
The Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing’s annual “foliage tracker” app and search tools estimate that the earliest hints of colorful foliage in the Woodstock and surrounding communities are likely to take place in an Oct. 4-6 time frame. Mid-range foliage in the local area is expected to hold forth on about Oct. 8-10, and the full display of peak foliage season is likely to crop up the week of Oct. 13-19.
Ann Hazelrigg, extension professor of plant and soil science at the University of Vermont, wrote an informational article last week that addressed the impact of the regional climate on this year’s apple harvest, including the adverse effects of the wet spring and extended, late summer drought currently impacting the local area. The likelihood of a shortened foliage season with less vibrant colors than heretofore experienced is a consequence of the dry spell that has regional river and creek beds running at seriously depleted levels.
“Acute drought stress symptoms in trees and shrubs include wilting, marginal leaf scorch or dieback along the leaf edges, yellowing or browning leaves, and premature leaf drop. Symptoms may also include tip dieback in evergreens and, in some cases, dead branches. I have noticed some trees in the area are dropping leaves like it is late October,” Hazelrigg wrote with concern last week.
Regional orchardists have also noted the impact of the 2025 growing season’s early, wet start and the dry weather that has characterized the Upper Valley region throughout the summer.
“Right now, we’re waiting to see what will happen. For sure, we are hoping for rain,” commented Linda Friedman, the co-proprietor of the sprawling, 6,000-tree Wellwood Orchard in Springfield, on Monday. The orchard — one of the larger “pick-your-own” operations in the state — has been owned and managed by Friedman, her three sisters, and father Roy Mark for the past four decades. “Of course, in May, right when we were in bloom, we had all that rain, and so our bees didn’t get as much pollinating done as normal,” Friedman continued. “In fact,” she added, “we’re seeing a phenomenon this year of the top of our trees not having been pollinated, but the lower half were pollinated. We’re suspecting that the bees might have taken shelter under the lower half. They couldn’t resist the beauty of going after those lovely lower blossoms and then taking cover there, so they didn’t have to go out in the rain. As a result, the bottom half of many of our trees are covered in fruit while the upper half is bare.”
For more on this, please see our September 4 edition of the Vermont Standard.
